Conventional MEMS relays have been employed for various uses, but have certain drawbacks that prevent wider acceptance and preclude use in some applications because of the inherent characteristics of these conventional design. Specifically, MEMS relays open and close rapidly, providing large amounts of power that is dumped into the contacts by the inductive pulse, which is a major problem and limits design flexibility.
Heat that is generated during operation builds up, causing localized temperature increases. These hot spots cause potential or actual damage in the relay. However, no practical way to reduce heat has yet been proposed. Another problem some relays have is stiction, where the electrodes are difficult to separate. This increases the cost and decreases the reliability of the relays, requiring alternative means for overcoming the stiction.
Often times, the electrical contacts and/or the actuating membranes in conventional designs come into contact with the environment, creating a risk of corrosion or sparking. This drastically reduces the operating life of the relay, especially in hostile environments and when switching low or non self-cleaning currents.
A major problem with conventional MEMS relays is that they are not flexible enough to permit customization of the electrical load being switched. There are not a lot of design options available.
It would be of great advantage in the art if an improved MEMS relay could be provided to give a much wider range of design options, permitting the needed customization of load switching, and enabling the creation of a family of relays to serve a wide range of customer needs.
It would be another great advance in the art if MEMS relays could be provided which reduced the amount of power dumped into the contacts by an inductive pulse.
Yet another advance would be to provide MEMS relays operable to dissipate heat, reduce stiction, and long-lived in hostile environment and when switching low or non self-cleaning currents.
Other advantages will appear hereinafter.